Closure for inflatable structures



G. D. MALLORY CLOSURE FOR AN INFLATABLE STRU CTURE Sept. 7,1948;

|||| lllllll Iflll |l|| Filed June 6, 1944 Patented Sept. 7,;1948

CLOSURE FOR INFLATABLE STRUCTURES I Gerald. D. Mallory, Akron, Ohio, alsignor to Wingfoot Corporation -tion of Delaware Akron, Ohio, I. corpora-.

Application June 6, 1944, Serial No. 538,969

. 1 This invention relates to a scalable closure means .ior an inflatable container, bag or the like whichis adaptedto be closed by the mere sliding of a slidefastener across a fingeredopen- Jngas in-the well known zipper" closure.

Although the invention is applicable to closures for various types of structures, it will be described particularly in connection with a closure on an inflatable bag large enough to hold a human being and adapted to be placed under a, pressurenot exceeding, for example, .5 pounds. Such bags may be used for resuscitating persons carried to high altitudes by placing them in-such bags and iating the bags. Furthermore, such bags may be used to advantage for the treatment of sick persons with oxygen or other gas. For this purpose, pressures of 2 pounds or the like have been found satisfactory. I

The invention relates to means for quickly closing such bags and maintaining themunder prescure. In the bag directly under the slide-fastoner opening is a sealing means or valve composed of two elongated cooperating members which are parallel to and substantially coextenrive with the opening and are forced against the under side of the slide-fastener closure when the bag is inflated. The opposed marginal faces at these members are complementary and form an airtight seal when brought into register. The invention includes such a structure in combination with auxiliary means for partially restrictlug the flow of gas from the bag during early stages oi inflation.

The invention will be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a plan view of the seam as it is about to beclosed, Fig. 2 is a section on the line i-i of Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of a portion oi the closure means.

e opening which is to be closed may be, for ample, 3 to 6 feet long, more or less. In closing the opening, the metal fingers I and 2 are brought into interlocking relation to hold the two portions I and 4 of the inflatable structure in the closed position. The closing is eflected by the well-known slide fastener arrangement II.

The under sides of the fabric portions 3 and 4 or the inflatable container or bag support the sealing means or valve structure. which is com-,- posed of the two elongated,'flexiblecooperating members i and 6. Ina preferred arrangement, each Of the portions 3 and 4 of the inflatable container or bag is supplied with .disengageable fastening means such, tor example, as tab portions I and 9, which may be spaced at intervals 1 Claim. (01. 24205.1)

of l or 2 feet for a large opening, and these are adapted to be snapped together by the usual snap means II.

In closing the bag or other inflatable structure,

the opposite sides of the openingare brought into close proximity to one another by snapping together the series 0! snaps on the tabs 8 and 8.

This brings the two sides of the opening into approximately the position in which they will be maintained when the fingers I and 2 are interlocked.

An important feature of the invention is the interlocking arrangement oi the flexible members 5 and 5 are provided with a substantial thickness so that they will retain sufllcient stiflness to avoid a tendency to cross one another or buckle when being drawn in sealing engagement with one another by the closing action of the Zipper closure. The cooperating marginal faces it and ii of the members 5 and 6, respectively, will function at maximum emciency when formed by two reversed arcs tangentially joined to one another to interflt in complemental relation, the radii X and Y of said arcs being of a dimension equal to half the thickness of the members 5 and 6, respectively. 1

It is noted that the upper juncture of the members I and 6 comes at approximately the midpoint or the opening between the metal fingers I and 2. This reduces to a minimum the possibility oi! the flexible fins It and i5, becoming entangled with the metal fingers I and 2 when the sliding member I] is drawn across the opensnaps I0.- This brings the interlocking fingers I and 2 and the members I and 6 into approximately the position they will occupy when the assaew on the member even though the members 9 and 9 may sag somewhat prior to inflation. The seal will be found suflicient to prevent the escape of so much air as to hinder inflation oi the bag. The presence of the snaps and the tabs 9 and 9 prevents the members 5 and 9 of the sealing means from falling so low that they are entirely separate from one another. I

Once the temporary seal has been formed, the the pressure will build up within the bag, and the members 5 and 9 will flatten out as the pressure increases. Before any pressure is applied, the

slide i I will be drawn across the opening to interlock the fingers, and this prevents separation of the members 5 and 9 which automatically fall in place. As the pressure increases within the bag, the members 5 and 6 will be forced against the outer portion of the bag enclosure, and as the members flatten out, the seal will become "airtight. The fln ll lies flat on the surface of the member 9 and forms an airtight seal.

In some cases, it has been found desirable to eliminate the tabs 8 and 9. as where the container or bag is to be used in total darkness or under conditions of hysteria. Under such circumstances, it is found desirable to fill the voids between the metallic fingers with an adhering wax. In this manner, the loss of air on initial inflation is slowed down to a point where the bag will inflate and seat the cooperating members of the sealing means. This alternate design is especially suited for emergency conditions where fear and absence of light are factors. Ef-

fective closure is attained through merely pulling the closure slide up its chain without regard for position of the cooperating members. The design of the sealing means and its cooperating members prevents entanglement in the closure.

The thickness of the cooperating members of the sealing means prevents crossovers of marginal 40 faces 0r edges.

register. Under these conditions, as the pressure 'is increased, the sealing means becomes tighter as both members 5 and 9 are pressed -ventive scope is defined in the appended claim.

What I claim is: b A scalable closure means for disengageably securing together the edges defining an opening in a container and the like, said closure means comprising a. slide fastener for uniting the edges of Y the opening; and sealing means attached adjacent the edges of the opening and arranged to interiit in com-plemental relation when the edges of the opening are united by the slide fastener,

each of said sealing means being characterized in cross section by two reversed arcuate portions tangentially Joined to one another and having at the extremity of one of the arcuate portions The members 5 and 6 are united to the edge portions of the fabric. They are fastened to the covering of the enclosure in such' a position that when the Sliding closure II has drawn the members 3 and 4V of the container or bag together, the members Iand 6 will he brought into exact a thin knife-edged flexible fln which is disposed in generally overlapping arrangement with a similar fln at the extremity of one of the arouate portions of the other sealingmeans whenboth of said sealing means are interiitted by the uniting of the edges of the opening by the actuation of slide fastener.

I GERALD D. MALLORY.

nnrmnnons crrnn I The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

unrrnn STATES ra'rnn'rs a,296,358 Marinsky et al. Sept. 22, 1942 

